STAMPlorations Inspiration

 

Hi fellow crafter, thank you for visiting my blog today. How are you? What have you been crafting lately? I'm here today to share my creation for this week's STAMPlorations Inspiration Post. Every Tuesday I have the pleasure to join my fellow Inspiration team members to share our latest projects made with our favourite new and old STAMPlorations products. I hope our projects inspire you to be creative too, using your favourite crafty techniques.

For today's card, I've stepped a bit outside of my comfort zone and gently dabbled in some mixed media techniques. I started with a background I created by smooshing Distress Oxides. A while ago I created a bunch of backgrounds using randomly drawn colours and this was one that I liked quite a bit. I used one of the For the Birds Dies and I also die cut the sentiment from the same panel using  Everyday Sentiments Dies. I created a card background by inking brown distress inks through one of my favourite stencils, Retro Circles and then adhered the die cut pieces to my card. 

Dies: CUTplorations For the Birds Dies, Everyday Sentiments Dies
Stencil: ARTplorations Retro Circles
Ink and colouring: Distress Oxides, Distress Inks

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping at the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes.

Note that as a STAMPlorations affiliate, I get a small commission on any orders you place in the STAMPlorations store using the links in my blog post or my coupon code STAMPGIRLKAROLA. This is at no added cost to you. Thank you for your support to keep my craft addiction going :) 

Life Is Short

I haven't been creating much in the last few months. Things have happened. Life has happened. We had a death in the family. I started a new job. I simply had no energy to create at all. To be honest, I also had no energy to cook, clean or exercise. This weekend I felt the call of the craft room for the first time in months. So I cranked the music up and answered that call. I'll show you what I created some other day. Today I'll show you something I had forgotten I made earlier. I knew a few months ago things were going to get tough, so I created this tag while I was grieving for things to come. I found it yesterday when I was performing an archaeological excavation in my craft room (also known as cleaning your crafting desk).

I don't usually do mixed media, so this is a bit out there for me. I have to admit, I can't even quite remember what I did to create the tag, as it now seems like a lifetime ago. I think I started with a background created with Distress Oxides, then added Gesso on top of that. I stencilled the floral using ARTplorations Bloom Boldly using texture paste mixed with Bronze Distress Paint. I then splattered some watercolours and white acrylic. I also think I stamped some grungy stamps on the background before stamping sentiments from It's a Girl Thing:Kindness and It's a Girl Thing: Sunshine onto a previously created rainbow coloured leftover piece of cardstock.

I'm linking up over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where Anything Goes, Love 2 Create and A Inky Mess where anything mixed media goes, and Tuesday Throwdown where the theme is Stenciling.

Stamps: STAMPlorations It's a Girl Thing:Kindness and It's a Girl Thing: Sunshine 

Dies: CUTplorations Maila Tags Nesting Dies

Stencil: ARTploratons Bloom Boldly

Inks and colouring: Distress Oxides, Distress Paint, Distress Ink, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping in the STAMPlorations store you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes.

Bujo overview 2017

This was my "Hello 2017 intro
page at the start of the bujo"

Not many hours left in 2017. This would be the time to look back and evaluate things. To be honest, I think my theme for 2018 will be "The best is yet to come" and I will leave 2017 behind without too much introspection. 

Dear 2017, we had some good times, we had some bad times. We had some fun times, we had some sad times. I don't expect 2018 to be anything different - Life is a rollercoaster, you just have to ride it. 

One thing I did was I managed to keep a bujo through the whole year, and I also managed to create an intro page for each month in my bujo. Many of them are a bit more mixed media than I usually do, so I had fun experimenting with them. They are all below, warts and all. Next year's bujo will be unicorn themed. Fancy that? 

 

In January I was inspired by night skies and tried to paint some northern lights in watercolour.  Let's just call it an experiment and leave it there. February was my first and I think so far only attempt at using Distress crayons. I discovered they are not my medium of choice although others seem to get some really great results with them. 

  

March was a bit of a mess. Not sure what look I was really going for there. April turned out quite pretty, lots of stamping and masking using STAMPlorations floral stamps followed by watercolours.

 

May was fun, well anything with rainbows is fun isn't it. Distress inks and a STAMPlorations stencil and die. June was one of my first plays with my new Distress Oxides. They blend so beautifully.

 

July was all about colouring outside the lines - a big mess with watercolours really. August is a page from the STAMPlorations Bloomtangled colouring book. I treated the page with clear gesso and then coloured with watercolours. That was super fun.

September and October are also pages from the Bloomtangled colouring book, both coloured with Sharpies. September was supposed to be grunge but it's more of a mess. October is the first time I dared to try my new lettering skill. Let's just call that a work in progress, eh?

 November was Distress inks through a stencil and a bunch of die cut leaves I had left over from another project. December I have to admit I didn't have any time between manic work and preparing for Christmas to really do anything other than using an old card front from a card I didn't find any recipient for. Thought I might as well get some use out of it.

Now it's time to say goodbye to the old year and the old bujo. I managed to finish with 2 pages left in the notebook. I have a pink Rhodia Goalbook for next year, I can't wait to tuck into that. See you next year, and wishing you a lovely New Year's Eve, whatever you decide to do. I think we will do a repeat our last year and fall asleep on the sofa at 10pm.

New Year, New Journal

And so it's 2017. Do you feel different? You would think that in all my many, many years I would already have learned that nothing magically changes when that clock strikes 12, but every year I have this tiny little hope that maybe somehow it will feel different. And again, I will try to go into the new year hopeful that next year will be better than the last. That things will keep on changing to the better. I think it's really important to remember that things won't magically change. For things to change, you need to change things. A good motivational read about it here. Also, when thinking back on 2016 all I could think of was the bad things. But we should focus on the positives! 

Before I go on with my musings, I have some very exciting news to share with you. I can offer you a 20% discount code for the STAMPlorations shop. If you want to indulge in a bit of shopping, all you need to do is enter the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA when checking out. The discount will apply to both normal price and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. The discount cannot be combined with other codes in the STAMPlorations store. If you have any questions or problems with the code, just let me know.

As usual there will be no New Year's promises from me. But I will continue on my journey on trying to live healthily most of the time. And enjoy the good things. This year I will try to focus more on being present. Not trying to multi-task everything. Focus on the person in front of me or the task in hand. It will be hard - I always type away on my blog posts while watching TV, or read emails while I'm in meetings. I will try my best to do less of that.

I will continue to journal. I loved having an analog calendar. I will continue to write more by hand. And I will try to incorporate some art in my journal - at least one page a month. However, I have struggled to get started with the new journal - I carried it with me on my Christmas trip but didn't write anything in it at all. I guess it's similar to a writer's block. When I received my recent crafty stash from STAMPlorations that seemed to break the block. I got so inspired that I just crafted without thinking and created my journal title page which is very different from anything I usually create. I even used my Tim Holtz Distress Crayons which I have been hiding in my desk drawer for months and months. I just kept colouring, stamping and adding stuff like there's no tomorrow. 

I started by smudging the crayons thorough the stunning ARTplorations Two Feathers mask, blending the crayons as I went. Then I used the gorgeous new Scribbly Splattery Grunge stamp set in black and grey around the edge of the stencilled image. I die cut the panel using the Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies. I stamped a sentiment from the Life In Full Colour stamp set in black and stamped the paintbrush from the same set on another piece of paper. I coloured the brush using Copics and fussy cut it. Then I stamped and fussy cut the numbers for the year using Sketchy Alphabet from a scrap piece of rainbow coloured card I created last summer and haven't been able to throw away. I used the same leftover piece of coloured card to die cut the Hello, Seriously and Awesome and then die cut the same sentiments from black card which I used to layer the sentiments. I added loads of Ice Stickles on the "2017" as a finishing touch. I also used grey ink though the feather mask to create the background for my brightly coloured panel. I sure don't know what 2017 will bring but at least I'll receive it in psychedelic colours!

I'm linking up with the Time Out challenge where the challenge is to be inspired by the sentence "With each sunrise we are given a chance for a new beginning". I was inspired by the words "new beginning". I'm also linking up over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, C.R.A.F.T, Brown Sugar and 4 Crafty Chicks where anything goes. Last but not least I'm linking up with Cut It Up challenge where the theme is Out with the old, in with the new (my old thing - those old Distress Crayons which have been in my drawer for at least six months, my new things - Scribbly Splattery Grunge and Life in Full Colour stamp sets have never been used)

Paper: Hobbycraft 160 gsm white card, scraps of black card, scraps of rainbow coloured card created with Tim Holtz Distress Paints
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Stampin' Up Slate Grey, Tim Holtz Distress Crayons, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Hickory Smoke, Copics
Stamps: STAMPlorations Scribbly Splattery Grunge, Life In Full Colour, Sketchy Alphabet
Dies: STAMPlorations Crazy Double Running Stitch Rectangle Nesting Dies, Hello Word Die, Seriously Word Die, Awesome Word die
Other: STAMPlorations Two Feathers mask, Ranger Ice Stickles

STAMPlorations discount code: If you want to save 20% when shopping for STAMPlorations products you can use the code STAMPGIRLKAROLA at the checkout. The discount applies to all normal priced and discounted stamps, stencils and dies. The code cannot be combined with other discount codes. If you have any questions or problems, just let me know!

Picture frame remake

I've been on a bit of a home design spree lately. Nothing major - I can't bear the thought of having to pull out paint brushes, I'm still too traumatised with the spruce we did at the Culinary Consultant's place three years ago. But small touches - flowers, candles, that sort of stuff. I'm particularly proud of a photo canvas I got for out downstairs loo. I couldn't find an image online that I liked so in the end I printed a picture I took myself in our garden last summer. Talk about individualised artwork! I also bought no less than five orchids today for the house as it seems like they are the only plants I can keep alive! I also got some cute little cacti and candles for my towel rain in the bathroom. Aren't they just the most adorable?

Anyhow, in my attempt to make our house a bit more of a home, I also want to add some photos to my craft room and our living room. So the first thing I need is some photo frames. I remembered I have a set of old cheap IKEA frames in the loft which I had painted bright pink many years ago. But they are nice little frame, so I thought why not try to work some of my crafty magic on them. Isn't this why I hoard all those weird mixed media things I don't really know what they are for - just in case I get inspired to do something like this?

I started by painting the frames white with Gesso to cover the pink. The for the lighter frame (at the top of the post), I added another quite thick layer of Gesso, let it dry for a while and then used some STAMPlorations stamps to create texture. I left the Gesso to dry over night. The following day, I painted the frame with Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Tarnished Brass, and let it dry over night again (the paint actually doesn't take that long to dry, but I was just getting in a few minutes of crafting between cooking dinner and then forgot all about it). After the paint dried, I tried adding some Distress Ink in Vintage Photo, but it didn't really stick to the acrylic paint. However, when I painted over everything with Distress Crackle Paint Rock Candy it moved the ink around a bit creating a nice extra vintage-y effect. After leaving the Crackle Paint to dry, I found that some of the crackling didn't stick very well to the frame, so I covered everything in a clear varnish. 

The darker frame was painted in Antique Bronze Distress Paint. After letting the paint dry, I inked Ground Espresso Distress Ink through an ARTplorations woodgrain stencil. However, as with the first frame, the Distress Ink didn't really stick to the acrylic paint surface, so when I added the Crackle Paint, the ink just reacted and flowed around but again I kind of like the effect here as well, as it just looks like the frame is really aged, even burned. As with the other frame, I finished everything off with a clear varnish to keep the crackle paint in place. And no, the Winnie the Pooh pictures are not what is going to be displayed in the frames - I just have no idea yet of what photos I want to use.

A few more pictures to show off the amazing texture of the frames, and particularly that gorgeous crackle. I really love the effect and I just bought a big bunch of other cheap picture frames, which I think will get crackled over too. I had absolutely no idea what would work and what won't but I'm quite pleased with how the frames turned out in the end.

I'm linking up with the following challenges:
Shopping Our Stash - Anything but a Card
Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - N is for Not a Card
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Craft for the Craic - A Step Back in Time (Vintage/historic)
Creative Loops Challenge - Recycle

Materials used: Gesso, Old cheap Ikea picture frames bought years ago, Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Antique Bronze and Tarnished Brass, STAMPlorations Mixed Media Elements and Mini Mixed Media Backgrounds stamps, ARTplorations Weathered Wood, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso, Tim Holtz Crackle Paint Rock Candy, Prism Multi-Purpose Clear Gloss Craft Glaze Varnish

STAMPlorations sketch challenge guest DT August

I'm so excited to be joining the talented STAMPlorations team for another guest DT spot, this time for the August sketch challenge. You may have seen my guest post for the July sketch challenge here, and after using a STAMPlorations digi for that card I decided to get a few of my favourite STAMPlorations sets. I've already made a few cards and I absolutely love the stamp sets I have (you can find a few cards here, here, here, here and here). When I saw the August sketch, I immediately saw doughnuts and macaroons. Ok, so I may see doughnuts whenever I close my eyes, but luckily it happened to work well with the sketch.

I am crazy about doughnuts. I stop by the Krispy Creme display in the store just to talk to the doughnuts... I know, I'm crazy. I made my own doughnuts a while ago, you can see them here. I actually made macaroons myself also, you can see them here. So I absolutely adore the Sugar Rush stamp set and had such a great time playing with it for this sketch.

This is probably as much mixed media as I'll ever do, but STAMPlorations always inspires me to at least try to get a bit more experimental. I started by creating the background using Tim Holtz distress paints and lots of spritzed water. I dabbed the paints onto a craft mat, spritzed with plenty of water and smudged the paper around in the colours, adding a dab here and there for more colour. Then I stamped a few sentiments from the Sugar Rush set onto the background, and heat embossed them in white. I stamped the macaroons and doughnuts in Staz-on, watercoloured using distress markers and a waterbrush and fussy cut them. For the sentiment I used a scrap of Tim Holtz Old Paper cardstock and stamped the sentiment in Vintage Photo and heat embossed in clear embossing powder. I also inked the edges of the banner in Vintage Photo. Last, I arranged everything onto the background, added a few sequins and added some Glossy Accents to the doughnuts to give a bit of gloss to the icing. Unfortunately it doesn't show very well in the images.

I decided to have a card photo-shoot outside instead of my usual windowsill location as it seems like summer is back, hopefully not only for a one day visit. And I decided I wanted to show off my gorgeous hydrangea as well, I absolutely adore it. I thought it matched the colour scheme of the card perfectly. 

I would like to share my sugar-filled creation with the following challenges:

In the Pink - Anything goes as long as it's pink

Addicted to stamps - Anything goes

Creative Moments - Anything goes with summer fun

Fab and Funky - No pattered paper

Try Stampin' - or not - on Tuesday - Inspiration picture

Card: Coloured 240 gsm kraft card baby pink, Daler&Rowney 300 gsm Aquafine watercolour card, scrap of Tim Holtz Old Paper card

Stamps: STAMPlorations Sugar Rush

Inks: Tim Holtz distress markers and a waterbrush, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo, Tim Holtz distress paints Spun Sugar, Victorian Velvet, Bundled Sage, Picket Fence and Broken China, Tsukineko Versamark, Tsukineko Staz-On Jet Black

Other: Ranger clear embossing powder, Papermania Seafoam White embossing powder, Glossy Accents, sequins from my stash

Mixed media coral

I have been making so many cards lately. I'm good at making them, but not very good at sending them. So now I'm stuck with a gigantic box full of cards. That also reminds me that I *really* need to send a few cards which are long overdue. Anyhow, after being inspired by Meihsia's amazing Art Journal Page over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, I thought I would dust off my long abandoned Art Journal and try making a mixed media page. The theme for the challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge is Don't abandon coral, and although I don't have the new Abandoned Coral distress ink (yet, but it's in the mail...) I thought I would use the Stampin' Up Calypso Coral instead. My art journal page is also inspired by the beautiful greens and bright flowers out there in the garden right now. I'm still not much of a mixed media artist, but I did love playing with the paints, watercolours and my Tim Holtz Spritzer tool. It is nice to mix it up from time to time. 

I used green, coral and pink inks to watercolour the background. I then added various stencils and stamps for the background, and inked the edges in Vintage Photo. I also got out my Tim Holtz spritzer tool and spritzed the page with green, coral, pink and brown markers. I stamped flowers from the Stampin' Up Bloom with Hope set, coloured them with markers and smudged the colour with a watercolour brush. For the tag, I inked it with coral, pink and vintage photo ink, and coloured some gesso with Peeled Paint distress ink and applied it thorough a hexagon stencil. Then I stamped the Stampin' Up En Francais script stamp on the tag in black archival ink. Last, I stamped a Tim Holtz floral stamp in Mowed Lawn and Picked Raspberry distress paint. Finally I attached the flowers, the tag onto the page, and sprayed everything with a water mist with . Last, I added some coloured lace and added some Gorgeous Grunge spots and blotches in white ink. 

In would also like to link up with the following challenges:
All Crafts Challenge - Anything but a card
Addicted to Stamps - Flowers 
Dragonfly Dreams - How does your garden grow
Stamping Sensations - Flower Power
The Artistic Stamper - Journaling your heART out
Our Creative Corner - April Showers Bring May Flowers